Social Work - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/264

Filters

2022 1
1
Reset filters

Settings
Statistics
Citations
Start date: 2020 × Subject: Culture × Author: Krakouer, Jacynta Marie ×

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Journeys of connecting: Understanding cultural connection for First Nations children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria, Australia
    Krakouer, Jacynta Marie ( 2022)
    On the continent now known as Australia, European colonisation has greatly affected First Nations families’ lives. As in other colonised contexts, there has been enormous cultural loss experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over time, in part because of child removal practices. In Australia, these practices resulted in the ‘Stolen Generations’, whereby 10–30% of all First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families, communities, Countries—and, by extension, cultures (Wilson, 1997). Today, recognition of this cultural loss and the importance of Indigenous children’s rights to culture is reflected in international law (United Nations, 1989, 2007) and in contemporary out-of-home-care (OOHC) policy and practice. While cultural rights are recognised and protected, it remains that cultural connection is poorly understood and inconsistently supported in Australian OOHC systems. This thesis makes a critical contribution to better understanding how cultural connection is understood, and experienced in OOHC contexts by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members, including Aboriginal young people who have lived in OOHC, in Victoria, Australia. Using a mixed-methods approach, underpinned by Indigenous Standpoint Theory, the findings highlight the complex nature of cultural connection as a process of culturally connecting, which intertwines identity and culture. It demonstrates the importance of reconceptualising cultural connection as a journey of culturally connecting, experienced over time. The findings highlight how journeys of culturally connecting are best supported by Indigenous peoples, in accordance with Indigenous relationality, to impart knowledges of mob and ancestry that are pertinent to belonging, identity and the practice of mob-specific culture. This thesis shows that it is possible to better support cultural connection in OOHC where cultural disconnection has already occurred. However, there are no easy set of solutions to realise cultural connection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people within a system that produces cultural disconnection by design. The best way to support cultural connection is to prevent First Nations children and young people from entering OOHC in the first place. Our self-determination, as First Nations peoples, is paramount to this venture.